


no difference to me

by pettigrace



Series: Prompt Fills [7]
Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alien Character(s), Alien Cultural Differences, Alien Gender/Sexuality, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Bisexuality, Episode Related, Episode: s02e04 Survivors, Gen, I don't even know how to tag this, it's part of a series that will come to be, pansexuality
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-19
Updated: 2018-09-19
Packaged: 2019-07-14 11:50:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16039898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pettigrace/pseuds/pettigrace
Summary: Adjusting to his life on Earth, Mon-El wants to learn more about the human culture.(alternative to how Mon-El & Winn's outing to the bar ended)





	no difference to me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [samclaug](https://archiveofourown.org/users/samclaug/gifts).



> This is a little standalone for a longer series that _samclaug_ commissioned from me, it's something to establish characters' personalities further. We can't wait for everyone to read the big thing!
> 
> The title is from Muse's "Invincible".

Truth be told, for a moment there, Mon-El had expected to feel a certain degree of regret over dragging Winn into this. He had seemed pretty adamant about wanting to obey the rules - and the fact that Mon-El practically bribed him into going out with him had not done any good on his conscience.

Now, though, as he watches the way Winn enjoys himself, all of those thoughts vanish. As it seems, he is more of a free spirit than his whole talking about staying in line and the like had sounded like. While careful at first, he has quickly started to jump in on the various activities going on inside the bar.

It’s a completely human one, to make sure Mon-El gets as much insight in Earth’s people as possible, but it is not too different from the ones back on Daxam. Humans and Daxamites look as alike as they did to Kryptonians, which guarantees they will not raise any suspicions.

A difference that has made itself very clear so far is how they handle their alcohol. As alike as they may look, Mon-El can handle his beverages better than Winn. He is not sure if it is caused by the same thing that gives him his strength or if it is just that Earth’s drinks are less intoxicating than what he is used to.

He can barely hide a snort as he watches Winn make his way through the crowd of people inside the bar. This very situation feels so similar to how it has been back on Daxam that Mon-El feels a little twitch in his chest. It reminds not only of how it has _been_ but that it will never be like this _again_. One would think his isolation inside of the DEO gave him enough time to fully realize that his planet is _gone_ \- and maybe he _has_ , but there is a difference to when you are thrown into a situation that is eerily familiar.

He has wished to come here, though, so he tries his best to shove that thought away. Instead, he downs the next small glass filled to the brim with something in a funny colour so that his grin is back in place when Winn finally arrives next to him.

“Man, this is awesome!”, he yells as he claps Mon-El’s shoulders. “Don’t tell Alex, but if I’m being honest, I’m glad you dragged me here.”

Mon-El chuckles in reply. Winn’s speech is not as easy to understand any more, he slowly slips into slurring the words, which makes it kind of adorable. “If everything goes well, she will not know anyways.”

Even if so far Kara has been the one with the louder opinion about him (or Daxamites in general), he is not sure about the general vibe that her sister gives off. So far, her face has almost always spotted a scowl when he has seen her. That Hank keeps calling her his best agent does not help it - he is already aware how dangerous this faculty is and that those humans manage to go against all kinds of alien life is admirable. So yes, he would rather not get on Alex Danvers’ bad side.

“Right!”, Winn nods. His smile is bright against the growing red in his cheeks with happiness. He seems giddy as he speaks. “Let’s go play darts! Do you know that? I mean, you guys probably had that with, like, flying burning stuff or whatever but it’s really fun--”

Before Mon-El can answer - he could probably provide one if he first knew what this _darts_ even is - Winn has already grabbed him by the hand. It feels sweaty against his own but he does not shake him off. Instead, he follows as Winn pulls him away from the bar.

Yeah, this outing seems like a great way of learning more about the human culture.

 

-

 

It does not take too long until Mon-El knows they best make it back to the DEO. He has had his fair share of friends back on Daxam that have overstepped that line, though naturally never as early in the night as Winn does now. Maybe he should have asked whether Winn is a lightweight before they headed to the bar; it would not surprise him if it was not a difference in the drinks but merely how he is used to drinking more.

Winn has followed him easily, though with a lot of whining. Even now he pouts quite adorably, eyes shining in the dim lights of the lanterns. “I’m just saying, I would’ve totally destroyed that guy. Everything’s just physics, you know?”

He must still be referring to the game he had played - the mysterious game of darts if Mon-El is not completely mistaken. The man he had been playing against was not too happy with him trying to calculate the angle which would make him hit the middle of the board. If that even was what he was supposed to throw the dart at. Mon-El has stopped what could have become a fist fight, thankfully, and called it a night then.

He can feel Winn sway as he walks and even if he could easily carry him, he leads him to the next bench instead. “Let’s sit down for a moment, okay?”

Luckily, Winn nods enthusiastically. “I don’t wanna go home yet anyway.”

Mon-El just hums. Neither does he, though it is not just because this evening was definitely more fun than being stuck at the DEO. It is more the principle of being outside and doing _something_ \- not even just something that he _wants_ to do, but in general a little change of actions. Still, that it has really revealed itself to be an entertaining evening is a nice bonus.

Winn is still practically buzzing with energy. He keeps shifting as if they had sat here for hours already and it seems like nothing will make him stop talking. Not that Mon-El really minds.

“You know, it’s so _cool_ that you’re here-- anyone from a different planet, actually. Like, when I was a kid aliens were that crazy idea some people had and then suddenly there was Superman and we all just went ‘ _Holy shit, what_?’,” Winn splutters on. It is actually rather informative - he had not known that humans were not aware of other planets being inhabited. “And it’s just-- it’s super cool and all that and I hope I can go to space one day but also not! It’s scary, isn’t it? Besides, I’m not even like an astronaut or anything-- I’m just this IT guy--”

That is when Mon-El decides to cut in. “Winn, I may not know any of these things you just listed, but one thing is clear to me: you are not _just_ anything.”

“Aw,” Winn draws out the syllable into a long one. He throws an arm around Mon-El’s shoulders as he continues, “You’re a good egg. You know, if I were to go to space, I’d be really sad I can’t go to Daxam. Or Krypton. It’d be cool to see where my friends grew up.”

“It is not so different.”, Mon-El reasons. “At least it does not look like that so far.”

“Still! It’s a whole different _planet_ ! Don’t you feel like that’s already, like, _impossible_?”

Mon-El laughs and shakes his head. “You forget we have been more equipped to life on other planets. It was a given in our lives.”

“That sounds awesome,” Winn breathes. “You guys must have treated planets like countries.”

Turning his head to him, Mon-El almost bumps his nose into his temple. Winn is still closer than he would have expected, though he is looking somewhere into the distance. There is a small smile on his lips, sharp against the rest of his features even with the signs of intoxication written into them. The red spots in his face, however, look actually quite charming.

Winn must have felt his eyes on him because in the next moment he whips his head around. He is still smiling when his eyes meet Mon-El’s, maybe even wider now.

It vanishes only - and slowly so - when he presses his own lips against Winn’s.

For a moment, he does not get any reaction. Then, slowly, he feels how Winn tenses up against him rather than kissing back - Mon-El is not used to being rejected, but that does not mean he does not recognize the signs of it. He feels himself freeze as well but that feeling goes away when Winn finally moves and pushes him away.

It is more than his right to do so, so Mon-El follows suit. It appears that he has read the situation completely wrong. Truth be told, there really had not been any hint at Winn being interested in kissing him, so he feels a little bad he just went for it. “I’m sorry, I should not have--”

Before he can finish the sentence, Winn already cuts him off by raising a hand. He turns around and leans over the back of the bench immediately, starting to vomit. It is not something that Mon-El is not used to either, but he does scrunch up his face a little at the sight. Not to mention the noise.

Now, when Winn raises his head again, he looks more than miserable. All of a sudden there are pearls of sweat covering his forehead, he looks not only pale but almost green and the shadows underneath his eyes look more pregnant than before. Mon-El feels bad for him.

Winn grimaces as he looks up at him, eyes a bit red, and his voice is sore as he speaks. “I really wanna get home now.”

Mon-El pats his back gently. “Yeah, I think so, too.”

 

-

 

Mon-El’s days in the DEO usually go by the same schedule: he would be woken up by one of the agents - usually Alex or Winn - so that they could start running tests. He is a bit surprised when it is someone today whom he does not know, but he does not mind. He can imagine Winn is still sleeping off the alcohol and he is happy for any time he does not encounter Alex. Both of them being absent, though, also means that he is alone in the training room.

While he is as curious as either of them about what his powers on Earth may be, he doubts that doing anything on his own in here would be of any help. What if he breaks something because he did not have anyone around to stop him? He would also rather avoid someone coming in if he is using something the wrong way. There had been this instance where he did not recognize what humans use as weights for raining until Hank explained them to him. He would rather avoid a repetition of that humiliation.

So instead, he chooses to stay seated for a moment. It should certainly be good to just relax for a moment - especially since he has only just woken up. The drinks have not worked as well on him as on Winn, but that does not mean he had not felt them at all. The lack of sleep is another reason for him to cross his arms in front of his chest and close his eyes for a while. He does not plan to fall asleep but to ‘chillax’ as Winn had put it only yesterday.

Instead, he is thinking. He can understand that Kara does not trust him - their planets have been something close to mortal enemies and he knows about the reputation that precedes his people; and he knows that it might be justified. Still, the others surely must realize that they cannot keep him locked up. He did not commit any crimes and ones all the test are done (there cannot be many more, right?) then they _must_ let him go outside. So far, though, he is not allowed to go out and he is pretty sure that if anyone found out, then _Winn_ would get into trouble.

He can only hope that the effects of the evening will not be too hard on his friend; it would be awful if his actions were not pleasant to him at all in the end. Truth be told, he had already started to feel bad about it when he saw how bad Winn must have been feeling physically. He looked worse than anyone that Mon-El had ever seen. If it had not been for his strength, then he probably would not have managed to get him up from the bench.

There is no way of measuring the time in this room - and from what he has seen so far, their ways of doing so may be similar but not exactly the same; he is sure he would not have been able to do anything with that anyways - so he cannot tell how long he has sat there when there is a movement coming from the door. Seeing how he had not spiralled too much, it cannot have been too long, though.

And it does not surprise him that it is Winn coming into the room.

“Hey bud,” hestarts. He is standing in the doorway, looking down at where Mon-El has come to sit. He is biting his lip, as if he were unsure of how to carry on, and Mon-El does not know whether he should address that. In the end, Winn settles with, “Can we talk for a sec?”

Mon-El frowns up at him. He can imagine that maybe someone found out he has left the DEO after all. But even if he had gotten in trouble with Hank or someone else, why would he look so nervous when facing _him_? No, there must be another explanation. “Sure.”

He watches Winn carefully as he enters the room, taking in his appearance. There are dark circles painting the skin just under his eyes, probably from the short span of sleep after a tiring night. He looks still a bit pale, but not like he is going to faint any minute. Still, he huffs when he lets himself fall down on the bench next to Mon-El.

“Man, you’re probably as fit as always, huh?”, he starts. It is obvious that he is trying to seem more casual than he actually is; no, there is a certain amount of nervosity written into his features.

“I think that Daxam’s drinks had a stronger effect on me,” Mon-El answers with a shrug. He wonders if he should have cut in on Winn’s alcohol consumption as soon as he had noticed the bigger effect that it has had on him. Winn does not look mad at him, though, so he thinks it is alright. “Are you alright?”

“Just a light headache.”, he answers with a wave of his hand. “Took some advil, just waiting for it to work.”

Despite himself, Mon-El smiles at him. One of his favourite things about Winn - next to his excitement and bluntness at times - is that he just seems to _forget_ he does not have another human in front of him. He does not make a difference between him or one of his friends and besides his curiosity about what Mon-El’s powers are here on Earth he does rarely ever comment on him being from Daxam. He does not know whether he avoids it on purpose, as if he fears the reminder of how his life has been is too hurtful, or if he really does not care, but it makes him feel more than welcome.

That being said, he has no idea what an advil is, but he is glad if it helps him feel better.

“Thank you again for yesterday. I would have gone crazy if I had had to stay in here any longer.”, he says instead. “It was fun.”

“Yeah, for the most part,” Winn agrees. There is a little lilt in his voice, like he is not finished with talking yet.

Mon-El may not have been on Earth and in this new life for a long time, but he can already tell that all the things that have happened to him so far have started to change him. The old version of him would have noticed that maybe, but he would not have waited for him to carry on.

Winn draws in a deep breath before looking at him. “Okay, um-- I just wanted to say again that I’m-- that I’m straight.”

Mon-El raises an eyebrow. He can tell that Winn’s posture is alright, even if the times he has seen him sitting at his desk were no proof of that. “What does that mean?”

“That I’m only attracted to women. Only,” Winn says seriously. “Like, I’m sure you’re a great guy and all but-- yeah.”

“That seems like a waste.”, Mon-El blurts out. “Are you sure?” Even on Daxam, there had been people who preferred some physical aspects over another, but there had not been any special label - or really, no ruling out the possibility of attraction towards anyone.

Winn lets out a bark of laughter at that. “Yeah, believe me,” he tells him with another fierce nod. “College told me enough about that.”

Mon-El does not know what a college is, but if it gave him a level of certainty about that - even if he still cannot say he _understands_ it - then he will accept that. It seems really strange, however, that the people of Earth would limit themselves so much; to think there is a whole range of people out there and they would set their preferences in something as trivial as _gender_. “Okay? I should probably apologize.”

“Apologize?” Now Winn’s eyes grow wide in surprise. “You mean for kissing me? Nah, dude, that’s alright. Ego-boosting, actually.”

“Still. I did not know Earth had such strange customs.”, Mon-El explains. “On my planet there was no limit to attraction.”

Winn gives him an encouraging smile at that. He leans over and pats his knee gingerly as he says, “Don’t worry about that. There’s plenty of humans who are attracted to multiple genders as well.”

“Well, it would have been strange if it were differently.”, Mon-El replies. He has already made his peace with standing out amongst the humans - for his lack of knowledge just about anything, or maybe his strength - but it would have seemed ridiculous to have _love_ as a gap between them. He still cannot even comprehend the idea of this whole ‘straightness’, as Winn has called it; and this time it seems to be something he shares with _plenty_ of people.

Winn sends him another smile at that, though this time it does not reach his eyes. It is like there is something else on his mind that needs saying, but then he sighs and shoves that thought away. “Okay, now, Hank will probably want to shout at us. Jeez, I sure hope Alex isn’t there…”

Mon-El chuckles at that; yeah, the same thought that had crossed his mind. Maybe he is more alike humans than he had thought.

**Author's Note:**

>  **Please leave a comment!**  
>  If you liked this, come check out my [tumblr](http://joanthangroff.tumblr.com) or talk to me on [twitter](http://twitter.com/Ll4MDUNBAR).


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